Having completed a sensational return to the DTM last season, which culminated in the winning of all three titles, BMW Motorsport has mainly stuck to its winning formula in allocating its eight drivers to the four teams for 2013.

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Therefore, BMW Team Schnitzer – 2012 Team champion – will continue to line up with the proven combination of DTM champion Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner. Augusto Farfus remains with Belgian outfit BMW Team RBM for another season, while Martin Tomczyk will once again do battle for BMW Team RMG.

The only change concerning the six successful drivers who were instrumental in winning the manufacturers’ title for BMW last year sees Andy Priaulx swap seats with Joey Hand. Three-time World Touring Car Champion Priaulx will drive for BMW Team RMG in the future, while Hand will race for BMW Team RBM. At the wheel of the two BMW M3 DTMs run by the newly formed BMW Team MTEK will be Timo Glock, whose move from Formula One was confirmed recently, and Marco Wittmann, who has been promoted to a regular driver from his role as test and development driver.

“With BMW Team MTEK, we will have even more strength in numbers in the future, which can only be advantageous in such a close series as the DTM. There are obviously some operational challenges when it comes to integrating a new team into an existing structure. However, we are confident we have done just that,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann are also new to the DTM. Together with BMW Team MTEK, we will give them the time they need to gradually find their feet in this series. As far as our other three teams are concerned, we saw no need to make dramatic changes to the tried-and-tested structures. However, we did want to set a few new courses for the 2013 season, in order to get the most out of the strengths of our drivers and teams. This is the thinking behind Andy Priaulx and Joey Hand swapping teams. The allocation of our drivers for the 2013 season allows both the drivers and the teams to take the overall package at BMW Motorsport to the next level by exchanging experiences and ideas. Everyone in our team is highly motivated to succeed as we face the new challenge of lining up in the DTM as defending champions.”

In announcing which of the four teams the eight drivers will race for, BMW Motorsport is heralding the hottest phase of preparations for the DTM season. More tests are scheduled for the coming weeks and months. The eight regular DTM drivers and BMW Motorsport test and development driver Maxime Martin will also travel to Viareggio for a joint fitness week at the start of March.